Improvement in fruit-baskets



` im 85.0. M;MILES.

FRUIT BASKET.

'4 Patented May 23, 1865.`

2. 2` `00 nl` 4 o., N.

llll'! UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE.

J. s. Homin AND o. M. MILES, or VINELA'ND, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN FRUIT-BASKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,822, dated May 23, 1865.

.To all whom-it 71mg/ concer-nl: 4

j Be it known that we, J. S. HOAR'D and CHAs. M. Musics, of Vineland, in the county of Cumberland and State of New Jersey, have Y invented a new and useful Improvement in Fruit-Baskets; and we do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact descrip- .j tionthereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference bev ing had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this spciiication, in which- Figure' 1 represents the piece'forming the body or sides of the basket when opened out before its ends arejoined. Fig. 2 is a verti- COTTB- fbody'A' is made of any material which has the proper qualities of lightness and ilexibility.

Fruit and berry baskets are needed in immense quantitiesat those seasons of the year in which' berries and fruits are ready for market; and it being desirable to transport .the said berries and fruits to market without -jamming er1 bruising them, and in a-convenient and desirable condition for sale, great eiforts have been made to produceV a chea light, and strong basket for that purpose.

. Our invention has for its object to produce 'a basket which shall answer the required conditions, and which may be made and sent to the fruit grower or gatherer in blank, with. out setting up, so as to save expense in trans'- portation and av'oid danger of injury to' them while in. the hands of the carrier.

lentake paper or bark or thin veneers of any light material, which, -when interlocked along its' ends, as hereinafter described, will have sufficient stiffness and strength to answer the purposes of abasket, and cut therefrom .by any suitably-formed cutter, a blanklike that seen in Fig. 1, one end thereof being cut so as to form ngers 1g thereon, and theothcr end having perforations a cut 'therein in such .positions and of such a size as to receive the iingers'b. The blank is to' be curved concentrically on its upper and; lower sides, so thatwhen its ends are brought together the basket will be Haring. The endscf the blank are to be on lines radial to the circles of which the said curves are parts. The upper or convex side of the blank is scalloped, as shown, to form an ornamental top to the basket. In order to forni the basket from such a blank,

thetingers b are inserted into the holes a from the outside of. the blank, so that their ends will be concealed within the basket, as seen in the sectional elevation, Fig. 2. The said fingers are `then cemented or glued tothe adjacent side of the basket, so'that they cannot be slipped back through the holes a. The4 shapes of theholcs and lingersare formed with reference to each other so that they will form a goodiirm joint. The bottom of the basket is formed by cutting out a circular piece from like material as that from which the blank A iscut, andA of a size to fit within. the compass of the smaller end of the basket, and dropping such circular piece through-the larger end to its place, where it will form abottom like that seen at c, Fig. 2, Baskets made in this way wilt be sufficiently strong and light for the purposes .above mentioned, and their cheapness will make them to be of importance to the growers of berries andfruit, whose profits have hitherto been seriously diminished by the'expensiveness of the baskets and boxes hitherto used for sending such articles to market. VThe blank sides or body and the bottom c-of these baskets can be prepared where material and labor arel cheap, and then packed in small compass in a 'hat condition, like layers of veneers, to the .marke-tgardener'or fruit and berry grower, who can easily put them together for use. It is not necessary to cement the lingersto the sides of the basket in order to .keep them lin place, since they will retain their hold 'ofthe eyes',

" andths keep the'basketin its integrity. The constructed as above set forth, as :t 'new arti- Y seallloped'edge is only for ornement, and is cle of manufacture.

therefore. not essential in the'making of the e 'J. S. HOARD. basket." CHARLES M. MILES. We claim as new and desire to. secure by Witnesses: Letters Patent- W. A. JHoUsE,

The above-descrbed berry and fruit basket, CHAs. F. FITCH. 

